Tag Archives: columns

Photographs: San Francisco

Between the Columns

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Between the Columns
A pedestrain emerges from between monumental columns along a San Francisco street.

Between the Columns. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pedestrain emerges from between monumental columns along a San Francisco street.

This photograph comes from one of my (formerly) frequent long walks through urban San Francisco, which is only a one-hour train ride away from where I live. My practice has been to periodically head up there very early in the day, and then spend the morning walking through various parts of The City with my camera.

This was not one of the “postcards from Pandemic” photographs. In fact, I made it last year before anyone had an inkling of what was coming. (Remember those innocent times?) But it seems to me to have a different context given what has happened in the past few months.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Austria, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Child In The Street

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Child In The Street
A toddler walks in the street in front of arches, Vienna

Child In The Street. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A toddler walks in the street in front of arches, Vienna

There are probably multiple ways to think about this photograph. It is, obviously, a photograph of a small child in a roadway. Is the child actually alone? Why is he/she in the street? Why did I make a photograph rather than running to protect the child? I’m not going to answer those questions here — partly because I think it is better to let the viewer wonder, and partly because there is no scandal in any of the actual answers. But questions remain? What IS this child doing? What, if anything, does this mean?

On a practical note, this is an example of the sort of photograph that would be pretty much impossible to make using the equipment or techniques of my landscape and similar photography. A scene like this happens instantaneously, usually with little or no warning, and it is gone almost as soon as you see it. For this sort of thing I work with a small handheld camera with a prime lens, which lets me respond to such scenes almost without taking (much) time for conscious thought.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basalt Columns and Lichen

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Basalt Columns and Lichen
“Basalt Columns and Lichen” — Yellow lichen growing on the basalt columns of Devils Postpile National Monument

This is one of several photographs I made of the Postpile on this autumn morning, and every time I post one more I get to tell a bit of a story on myself. Landscape photographers often get up very early, sometimes many hours before sunrise. On this morning we had plans to do just that, and if we had gotten up on time we would likely have gone of to photograph aspens somewhere. But we overslept! It had been a long week, the drive to the east side of the range the evening before had been a long one, and we had arrived late. So rather than waking up hours before sunrise, it was probably more like an hour after sunrise.

We were initially a bit disappointed at losing a sunrise, but we decided to just take it easy, and soon we sat down to a nice civilized breakfast — also something of an anomaly for early morning photographers. Eventually we decided to wander out and just go up to Devils Postpile, which wasn’t far away. Arriving well after the supposed good light, I was going to just leave my camera equipment in the car, but Patty persuaded me to take it. And was I glad I did. Here the sun rises behind the face of the postpile, which was still in shadow, though receiving some reflected light from behind us and from the blue sky. I had a short time to work in this lovely soft light before the sun finally peeked over the top and I found myself photographing straight into its light.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Flag Makers

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Flag Makers
A complex landscape of steps, columns, braces, windows, reflections, and buildings

Flag Makers. San Francisco, California. January 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A complex landscape of steps, columns, braces, windows, reflections, and buildings

I made this photograph near the new, lower level entrance to the remodeled San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) during a visit around the start of the new year. The old entrance to the museum has now been augmented by a new entrance that leads into the newly added wing. A large installation fills the space on the very lowest level, and large windows open from there to the surrounding buildings and a stairway leading to the entrance one floor higher.

I love photographing in museums — for the architectural spaces and the people — and I photograph inside and around MOMA every time I visit. Some subjects are immediately obvious but other take a bit longer to figure out. This open area on the lower level is, for me, in the latter category. It immediately felt like a place to make photographs, but it has taken quite a few visits to begin to reveal its potential. This photograph is more or less a study of the many layers and angles found within and outside of this space, including layers of time between the very new museum and the very old brick wall just beyond the stairs.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.